For Winfrey, who came to the city in 1984 to host A.M. Chicago, the gesture is quite a gift. In fact, the host declared the honor "better than an Oscar or an Emmy."

"It is really just a full circle, miracle story," said Winfrey, "that a little colored girl born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, on a red dirt road ends up with my name on a street in the greatest city in the world, Chicago."